Afghan deputy governor 'abducted' in northwest Pakistan

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The deputy governor of Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar province has been abducted from northwestern Pakistan’s Peshawar city, according to Afghan consul general Saturday.

Deputy Governor Qazi Muhammad Nabi Ahmedi had arrived in Peshawar on Thursday for a scheduled check-up with a doctor but he was later kidnapped by armed men on Friday evening, Afghan Consul General for Peshawar Moeen Marstyal told Anadolu Agency via telephone.

"The deputy governor’s family informed us that some unknown gunmen abducted Mr. Nabi [Ahmedi] from Dabggari Gardan area soon after he arrived there for a scheduled check-up with a doctor," Marstyal said.

Ahmedi is said to be a key leader of Hizb-e-Islami Afghanistan, which is led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar who returned to Kabul in April after a gap of 20 years following a landmark peace deal with the Afghan government in September 2016.

The consul general said he had informed the central Afghan government in Kabul and Pakistani Foreign Ministry about the kidnapping, adding he was in regular contact with police authorities.

Police, however, said while they have heard about the Afghan governor going missing from the media, so far no one has approached them for registering a First Information Report, also known as FIR.

"We heard from media but so far no local Afghan consulate official or relative of the missing governor has reached us to register a complaint," Abdul Habib, a police officer from the area, told Anadolu agency.

Earlier in May, gunmen had killed Haji Farid, a close aid and relative of former premier Hekmatyar, in Peshawar.

Last year, former governor of Afghanistan’s Herat province was also kidnapped from Pakistani capital Islamabad; he was later recovered by police from Mardan district of northwestern Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa province.